Setting 41 on 6-15, 7-8, 7-31, and 8-23 feel free to join in at any time

[NTBugtraq]

I would like to see the out come of you RSL to BCM cross egg production wise color and size. thing of doing BSL to BCM soon .

WE'll get it done

I used what I had, and with no real understanding of genetics. My goal was "black" eggs...and meat birds with a distinctly different flavor. Fact is, RSL's are not great for eggs, they're ok. My goal is to go 3 generations and get much closer to BCM than I am. My birds are all over the place color wise. Since my oldest project pullet is only 13 weeks + 1 day, I can't say anything about eggs (other than that 23g egg I got). Check out the other link in my signature to see pics of the project birds in older feathering. I have already gotten a couple of pullets that "look BCM-like", and the further I get into this the more will hopefully look that way, and if I learn something about genetics, may actually start laying BCM-like eggs.

What I like is my birds are going to be grown to my climate, my surroundings, and my feed regiment. That should make them hardier for here. If I did this project over again, I would have used a better pullet, one with a much higher egg production expectation (but not morphed).

 

[RubyNala97]

Chick flicks...

Love the chick pics! They look like they are thriving and doing great!! And of course, they are so adorable!

 

[WVduckchick]

Love the chick pics! They look like they are thriving and doing great!! And of course, they are so adorable!

X2!

 

[WalnutHill]

To be honest, the first data set ends with the birds I have in my brooder right now...they are all from the "lousy egg" group. 68.5% of my negative egg observations could easily be just the one issue...and these latest eggs are from hatch days with 15+ eggs, compared to 5-6 egg days.

Well, ok, you're right, I should just keep adding sets and watch the numbers rise, but I'm sure not going to be touting any 200%+ rises...

oooo...that sounds like so much fun...VMware? Sure not Hyper-V...bleh...

I run a VMware ESXi environment at home, but I am building this at work in Proxmox, open source server virtualization. Works well and allows for self-creation of VMs for non-admins...I can spin up a Win2K12 server from a source clone in less than 30 seconds. Installing the apps, on the other hand, can take a couple of hours.

 

[WalnutHill]

My next, and last setting for this year, won't be till my bday on 9/7, and unfortunately if all goes well, the cockerels from that setting will only be just over 12 weeks-old on the last day I can get birds provincially processed...but I so want pullets from that hatch that I'm going to do it no matter how small those cockerels end up being processed to (they can be dog food if nobody wants to buy them). If this works, I can have enough laying pullets to replace my existing flock by 1/11/16.

Interestingly, to have birds ready to be processed on the first day in 2016 (5/30) they will, I have to start that setting on 1/22/16. Despite having > 100 pullets in the coop at that time, only 20+ will be laying age (hmm, sounds like major expenses). Now then it becomes interesting. Each hatch gives me new pullets, but until they are laying, I can't cull the 1st year project birds. They won't start laying till the 2nd week of August, but by June 22nd I will have another 100 pullets in the main flock...lolz.

Will people pay for pullets as meat birds?

Yes, pullets will sell as meat birds just as well as cockerels. But you'd probably get more for them as backyard layers.

 

[WalnutHill]

I used what I had, and with no real understanding of genetics. My goal was "black" eggs...and meat birds with a distinctly different flavor. Fact is, RSL's are not great for eggs, they're ok. My goal is to go 3 generations and get much closer to BCM than I am. My birds are all over the place color wise. Since my oldest project pullet is only 13 weeks + 1 day, I can't say anything about eggs (other than that 23g egg I got). Check out the other link in my signature to see pics of the project birds in older feathering. I have already gotten a couple of pullets that "look BCM-like", and the further I get into this the more will hopefully look that way, and if I learn something about genetics, may actually start laying BCM-like eggs.

What I like is my birds are going to be grown to my climate, my surroundings, and my feed regiment. That should make them hardier for here. If I did this project over again, I would have used a better pullet, one with a much higher egg production expectation (but not morphed).

We do all out flock replacements of our production layers every 18 months or so. I've had batches of excellent RSL pullets that lay in excess of 90% rate of lay at 7 months. On the other hand, the batch I have now, from a new source much closer, has never topped 50%. I want to cut my losses now and replace them but DH does not want to be eggless for the 4-5 weeks it takes for started pullets to come into lay.

None of my homegrown EE mutts have started laying yet, and there are a lot of cockerels to cull once I can positively identify all of them. The oldest pullets are 16 weeks so it should be soon.

 

[NTBugtraq]

Does anyone here produce enough chickens that they use some for a raw diet for dogs? Is this an inappropriate subject in this thread? I ask, because it gives me a way to keep hatching after the provincial processor shuts down at Christmas.

 

[scflock]

Does anyone here produce enough chickens that they use some for a raw diet for dogs? Is this an inappropriate subject in this thread? I ask, because it gives me a way to keep hatching after the provincial processor shuts down at Christmas.

Odd subject, but it's you, so why not? I've never heard of that, but you do see ads on the local Craigslist from people wanting cheap chickens for feed, usually snakes. Regardless of what you are feeding, I would think chickens as fodder would go extremely cheap

 

[WVduckchick]

Odd subject, but it's you, so why not? I've never heard of that, but you do see ads on the local Craigslist from people wanting cheap chickens for feed, usually snakes. Regardless of what you are feeding, I would think chickens as fodder would go extremely cheap

I've also seen local Craigslist ads for the same. They basically want what you are throwing away.

 

[NTBugtraq]

Um, I have 4 dogs, I wasn't thinking of selling, just using...